Street Fighter 6 feels like a direct and hugely effective response to criticisms over the anaemic state of its predecessor at launch. Capcom has fully loaded three huge modes here, giving wannabe world warriors a veritable feast of fisticuffs to get engaged with. World Tour is a great big cheesefest that revels in its madcap style whilst providing a fun story, engaging RPG elements and a great way to learn the ropes all rolled into one. Arcade Mode offers up a solid roster of 18 excellent fighters to choose from at launch, and the all new Battle Hub already looks and feels as though it's gonna be a great place to hang out and challenge other players once multiplayer kicks off properly. It's been a minute since we've had a new Street Fighter on Xbox, and this one's been more than worth the wait.
Redfall sees Arkane experiment with melding genres, to mixed results. There's plenty of flashes of the style and narrative flair we've come to expect from this incredible studio as you explore the town and face off with its undead inhabitants. However, the mixing of FPS action and story beats with open world exploration and a relatively relaxed pace leads to a balancing act that may leave hardcore shooter aficionados and Arkane super fans alike wanting more. If you come at it looking for a chilled out bit of vampire hunting there's still plenty to enjoy here, but some irksome AI issues and a lack of clarity over what it really wants to be leave it feeling a little lost in a limbo of its own making.
Just like it did with the excellent Torna – The Golden Country, Monolith Soft has given us a carefully refined prequel experience here, adding to and improving upon core combat and exploration elements that were already best-in-class. Xenoblade Chronicles 3's delightful battle system feels better than ever, its stunning landscapes are packed full of exploration that's been reinvigorated thanks to the new Affinity system and there's enough emotion and revelations packed in to satisfy the most ardent of Xenoblade fans. It also provides something of a clean slate going forward for this most intriguing of franchises. Where will the world of Xenoblade take us next? We cannot wait to find out.
Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is a delightful reimagining of two classic GBA strategy titles. The gameplay here remains as endlessly addictive, finely balanced, and challenging as ever, and the addition of a handful of modern conveniences and the ability to play against friends online makes for a slick overall package. With a crisp, clean new art style that adds lots of new animations and cutscenes, a remastered soundtrack, and voice-acting in the mix, this is a polished return to Advance Wars action that's got us fully addicted to the series all over again. This is the sort of game you'll reserve a permanent space for on your console, a timeless experience you'll keep tucked away on your Switch for the foreseeable future.
MLB The Show 23 is a better all-round package than last year's outing, thanks in large part to the new Storylines mode that adds a well-presented and educational history lesson for players to get involved in. In terms of this Switch port, presentation is perfectly acceptable, with the expected graphical downgrades made, but the frame rate can still be troublesome in places, making for play that feels sluggish in comparison to other platforms. This issue aside, though, this is a solid port that brings all the modes found in other versions of the game, making for a decent overall option for MLB fans.
Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key ends Ryza's three-game run on a high note, serving up a heady mix of exploration, crafting and combat that benefits greatly from a narrative arc that's had time to develop and grow. The new key mechanics add more depth to combat, synthesis and exploration, the world is more seamless and diverse than ever before and the whole thing comes together to form a satisfying end for this hugely popular protagonist. We did have some issues with small text, no English dub and a little fussiness in how information is relayed, but overall this is Gust's finest adventure to date and a JRPG experience that long-term fans and newcomers alike will find plenty to delight in.
Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon is a delightfully stylish origin tale that sees young Bayo take her first steps on the road to becoming the badass Umbra witch we all know and love. This is a graphically stunning fairy tale with plenty in the way of atmosphere and charm. However, long-term Bayo fans beware, it's also a game that's aimed squarely at a young/casual audience, introducing plenty of fun puzzle and combat mechanics but never really evolving them to a point where they become in any way challenging. Repetition creeps in later in the game and, although it ends with some bombastic sequences and a few nice shoutouts to the main series, it feels like a little more challenge and experimentation in puzzles and combat could have made this one absolutely essential for all ages.
Mato Anomalies is an ambitious indie attempt to create a Persona-like RPG romp through neo-futuristic Shanghai. There's no shortage of good ideas in the mix here, with flashes of inspiration in the fusing of turn-based dungeon combat, mind-hacking card games and stylish visual novel elements. However, for all the ambition on display, it's let down by uninspired combat, repetitive level design, clunky exploration, frustrating card mechanics and writing that just never manages to engage. This one's not entirely without merit, but overall it's an experience that'll test your patience far more than it manages to entertain.
Session: Skate Sim is a valiant attempt to recreate the trials and tribulations of actual, real-life skateboarding that eschews the arcade flashiness of other skating games in favour of slow and methodical repetition and mastery of both your board and your environment. There's a deep and involving game here for skate fans who want something to really sink their teeth into, or at least there would be if it wasn't for blurry visuals, control issues, poor mission design, and frame rate issues that make for an uphill struggle that just doesn't feel worth the pain in the end. If you've got a ton of patience there's still some joy to be found here, but it's gonna take some patches and updates to get this particular port to the place it needs to be in order to earn a full recommendation.
Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe is a fantastic remake of one of our favourite Kirby adventures. With slick new visuals, some meaningful gameplay tweaks and two excellent new modes to dig into, this is a big, loud and colourful celebration of all things Kirby that should delight new and returning players alike. Magalor's Epilogue is a surprisingly chunky addition to the core action that gives the campaign a nice boost, whilst Merry Magoland ensures that you and your pals are kept busy with plenty of minigames, missions and online challenges to best once you're done with the main story mode. It's another win for everyone's favourite pink puffball.
Oddballers is a super fun little multiplayer party game that's got plenty of modes, lots of invention about its minigames, and a chaotic colourfulness that's hard not to enjoy. Grab some pals, boot into the couch co-op action here, and you're guaranteed a good time, especially for the asking price. However, be aware that in the immediate post-launch period, the online is a wasteland, a total bust in terms of finding a match. If you've got friends or family on hand to jump in, this is a great way to spend a fun few hours. For those who don't, well there are very capable bots to help you out, but the state of the online mode at launch is certainly an issue to take into consideration before giving this one a purchase.
Fashion Police Squad is a fun indie romp that does some clever, colourful things with the often rather samey DOOM clone genre. It's bright and breezy stuff, chock-full of very silly humour and, bonus points, you get to slap people in their faces with a Belt of Justice whilst shooting actual fashion onto their badly-dressed bodies. If you're looking for a few hours of knockabout retro FPS fun with its own unique style and take on the usual shooter mechanics, you could do a lot worse than bagging this stylish bargain. It's simply fabulous, darling!
You can feel Shinjji Mikami's influence all over this one, it's got that Vanquish magic, that God Hand swagger and attitude, all wrapped up in a delightfully colourful world full of good time vibes that's put us in a properly positive mood over the past few days. More of this kind of thing please!
Fire Emblem Engage is another stellar entry in this storied franchise, but it's also one that takes a noticeably different stance than its most recent predecessor. It's all about the combat this time around, at the expense of the relationships and romance that made Three Houses such a fan favourite, so if you're looking for that social element here, you're bound to be left feeling at least a tad disappointed. However, for those jonesing to get down and dirty with some sweet turn-based tactical action - action that's embedded in a satisfyingly OTT, beautifully presented anime narrative - this is as fine an example of the genre as you'll play this year.
Aliisha: The Oblivion of Twin Goddesses is a bright and colourful co-op puzzle adventure that brings some unique and interesting ideas to the table. There are some decent puzzles, likeable characters, a reasonably engaging story, and we love to see games going out on a limb to incorporate the Switch's abilities into their setup. However, there's an overall clunkiness and lack of polish here, too, with little to no obvious direction in most puzzles, and far too much focus on meticulously studying every inch of rooms, resulting in an adventure that's too often an exercise in frustration. It's a shame as well that co-op mode is only available via local play that requires two consoles and two copies of the game, as going it solo is a much less enjoyable experience. Admirable, then, but flawed.
Finding Paradise is a worthy successor to the superlative To The Moon. This second adventure in the series may not quite manage to hit the emotional highs of its predecessor, but there's still a complex, engaging, thoughtful, and wonderfully well-told story to sink your teeth into here in a game that will linger long in the memory once you're done with it. RPG Maker XP does cause a few little niggles with traversal and transitions between scenes, but these are minuscule issues that are well worth putting up with for the fun you'll have with the core narrative over its five-hour running time.
Overall then, it's a decent outing for Just Dance 2023, a definite improvement on what's come before and a far less annoying version of the game than what we were served up in 2022. If you're not a fan of the series, there's still nothing here that's really gonna change your mind — it's still exactly the same dance mechanics at the core of proceedings — but, if it's your cup of tea, this is as good a time as we've had with this franchise thus far.
Pentiment is one of the most unique and clever games we've played in a very long time. It may be the fabulous art style that first draws you to this one, and it really is quite the looker, but it's actually the very obvious care that's been poured into the narrative and the exacting detail in every aspect of the world-building here that ends up selling the whole thing so well. With a story that really goes some places, tons of history to learn about, lots of fantastic characters to meet and plenty of fun and surprises along the way, this is one medieval murder mystery you should absolutely check out as soon as it hits Xbox Game Pass.
Yes, fans of proper puzzlers may find some of the solutions and overall level of challenge here a little disappointing due to their more surreal and playful nature. There are only one or two — including a very clever Rube Goldberg machine — that will really make you work something out logically, but that's not really what Windosill is getting at. This is a wonderful, dreamy little slice of art that sucks you into its colourful toybox world and lets you drift away for the short amount of time it'll take you to see it through to its end.
Bayonetta 3 cranks up the chaos, improves the combat, polishes the level design, and adds a ton of new mechanics to the mix, making for the very best entry in this storied series to date. PlatinumGames has absolutely nailed it this time around, carefully layering on more ways to engage enemies, piling on the OTT gameplay sequences, and giving us multiple protagonists without upsetting the balance of what makes these games amongst the very best examples of their genre. With excellent performance in docked and handheld modes, incredible visuals, non-stop action, and a hugely replayable campaign that's a joy from start to finish, this really is a huge celebration of everything we love about Bayonetta, an action all-timer and one of the biggest highlights of 2022, on Switch or any platform.